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From: Don Y <blockedofcourse@foo.invalid>
Newsgroups: sci.electronics.design
Subject: Re: Raspberry Pi5 versus other cheap Intel based boxes for general
 computing
Date: Wed, 3 Apr 2024 09:01:31 -0700
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On 4/3/2024 7:21 AM, Don wrote:
> FWIW, my *nix Desktops consist of cheap, refurbished, small form PCs,
> stuffed with SSDs.

I use USFFs (Optiplex FX160's) and diskless workstations (e.g., HP t610)
for small appliances.  For example, one by each TV to act as a network
media server for that TV.  An FX160 handles all of my core network
services (name, time, print, font, TFTP, etc.).

They're nice because they use so little power (~12W), are fanless and
yet capable enough that I can build new kernels or userlands on them
without having to power on a bigger machine.

The trick is NOT to run Windows on anything "underpowered".

> The STM GPIO interface typically provides a digital interface to my
> electronic circuits. BSD RPis are used as intrinsic IDE hosts while
> Blue and Black Pills are accessed via a STLink.